Connie Universe
by SU Fanatic7152
Summary: Connie Universe is a human-gem hybrid that protects Beach City from evil with her three gem caretakers. Mixed Roles AU. Bits of Genderswap and OCs.
1. Gem Glow

It was a nice, clear day in Beach City. There were gentle breezes that flowed through the plants. The waves were softly rolling and crashing onto the shore.

Suddenly, a loud "Nooooooo!" could be heard from inside of the book store. The one who had made the cry was Connie Universe.

"This can't be happening!" Connie exclaimed. "This has to be a dream!" Connie ran over and wrapped her arms around a tall, teen girl with her black hair pulled back in a long pony tail. The teen also had several piercings, including: a triple pierce in her left ear, a single nose ring, and one ring in her bottom lip. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a small name tag on it and jeans.

"Linsey!" Connie exclaimed. "Linsey, please tell me I'm dreaming!"

"Get off of me, girl," Linsey said getting up with a box in her hands. "I'm stocking here." Linsey walked away, and Connie slipped off of her and landed on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Connie," a short, teen boy said from behind the counter. He had short, blonde hair and light pale skin. He wore a pair of glasses with round lenses. He was wearing a green t-shirt with a name tag on it and jeans, too. His name was Simon.

"I guess it was discontinued," Simon said.

"Discontinued?!" Connie exclaimed getting up. "Why in the world would they discontinue _Unfamiliar Familiar_? It's only the most epic and amazing book series ever written! Don't they have laws for this?!"

"Tough bits, girl," Linsey said putting some books on a shelf. "Nobody reads it any more. I guess they couldn't compete with _The No Home Boys_."

"Not _The No Home Boys_ ," Connie said walking over to a display case filled with books from the series. "Nobody likes them. They don't even have any fantasy in them. Kids these days. I'll tell you what."

"Well," Linsey said placing the last book on the shelf and turning around. "If you miss your precious book series so much, why don't you create a copy with your magic chest gem." Linsey walked back to the counter laughing.

"That's not how it works, Linsey," Connie said back with a bit of anger in her tone. "Right?" Connie pulled on the collar of her shirt to look at the blue, diamond shaped gem on her chest. She tapped it a little, but nothing happened. Connie sighed and walked toward the now empty _Unfamiliar Familiar_ display case.

"Oh, sweet _Unfamiliar Familiar_ ," Connie said. "With twisting and turning plot. Your memorable and relatable characters. You were too good for this world." Connie wrapped her arms around the display case and stayed like that.

"Uh, Connie?" Simon asked.

Connie didn't move.

"Do you want to take the display case with you?" Simon asked.

Connie slowly nodded her head.

With that said. Connie was heading back to her house with a somewhat large display case on her back.

Connie lived in a beach house just on the edge of the beach. Right above it was a giant statue of an eight-armed woman carved into the side of the cliff.

Connie jogged up the stairs and opened the front door. "Guys!" Connie said once she opened the door. "You won't believe that…" Connie was cut short when a strange creature jumped on her. It looked like an extremely large, multicolored dog with large fluffy hair and spikes all over it.

Connie let out a little yelp as she tried to get the creature off of her. Suddenly, an electro-whip wrapped around the creature, restraining it. The person at the other end of the whip was a tall, blue figure wearing knee-high white boots, navy blue pants, and a royal blue top with a light blue diamond positioned on her chest. There was a light blue gem positioned on the back of her head. Her name was Holly Blue Agate.

"Good afternoon to you, Connie," Holly said then pulled on the whip sending the dog creature flying across the room.

Tourmaline was pulling several similar creatures off of the couch and poofing them with her bare hands. Tourmaline was slightly taller than Holly. She wore green pants with light blue diamonds on her knees. She was wearing a lighter green tank top with a smaller reddish pink top over it. She had long dark blonde hair that stretched all the way down her back. She always wore a cyan blue visor making it impossible to clearly see her eyes. There was a small, triangular, green gem placed on her forehead.

Skinny was on the warp pad easily poofing the creatures coming at her with her pale orange sword. Her name was actually Jasper, but Connie and the other Crystal Gems nick-named her Skinny due to her appearance. She had her gem placed on her naval. She had on a short royal blue shirt that stopped above her gem and one of the straps on her top hung on the side. Right in the center of her top was a light blue diamond. She was also wearing black leggings that stopped at her knees. On her head was a big fluff of beige hair.

"Woah," Connie said placing the display case down. "What are these things?"

"Sorry, Connie," Tourmaline said picking up another creature. "We'll get these gem monsters out of your room. We think they were trying to get into the temple."

"Wow," Connie said. "They seem really…" Before Connie could finish her sentence, a small fireball left the monster's mouth and hit the floor.

"Oh my stars!" Holly exclaimed quickly making her way to the little fire and stomping it out.

"Uh, guys?" Skinny said from the warp pad. "None of these monsters have gems."

"That means that there must be a mother somewhere nearby," Tourmaline said poofing the monster in her arms.

"We should head out and find it before someone gets hurt," Holly said.

"Oh, can I come?" Connie asked. "Can I?"

"Connie," Holly said looking at the girl. "Until you learn to control the powers in your gem, we'll take care of protecting humanity. Okay?"

"I guess so," Connie said. She looked up and saw one of the monsters digging through her book case.

"Hey!" Connie exclaimed running over to her book case. "Get out of there!" The monster walked off. "Go on! Shoo! Shoo! Aw man. He didn't eat any pages, but he bent up all of my paperbacks. Not cool."

Connie turned back around when something caught her eye. There in her book case was the latest release of _Unfamiliar Familiar_.

"No way," Connie said with diamonds appearing in her eyes. "It can't be." Connie pulled the book out of the book case. "Where did you get this? I thought the series was discontinued."

"Well, we heard that, too," Holly said walking over next to Connie. "And since it's your favorite series…"

"Tourmaline and I went out out and stole a copy!" Skinny said plopping down on the couch.

Holly lightly growled. "I went back and payed for it."

"We thought you'd want the hardcopy with maps," Tourmaline said sitting next to Skinny on the couch.

"Thank-you so much, guys," Connie said. "Oh, Lisa and Arcamicarus, you're back in my life."

"Uh, Connie," Skinny said.

Connie opened her eyes to see the blue gem on her chest was glowing.

"My gem!" Connie exclaimed.

"Quick!" Skinny said. "Try to summon your weapon!"

"I don't know how," Connie said. The bright light of her gem started to dim. "Ahh! It's fading! How do I make it come back?!"

"Calm down, Connie," Holly said. "Breathe. Breathe. Don't force it."

"Yeah," Tourmaline said. "And try not to put too much pressure on your gem, thus causing you to explode into oblivion."

"Wait, what?" Connie said with a tint of fear in her voice. The light in Connie's gem completely faded.

"Aww," everyone said as Connie slumped onto the floor.

"Aw man," Connie said. "I was really close that time." Connie placed her book back in the book case. Then she turned back around to face the gems. "Can one of you guys just show me how to summon a weapon."

"Oh," Holly said. "I'll go first."

Holly warped herself and Connie to an open field with several lovely trees placed here and there. Pink petals were all falling from the trees.

"Now, Connie," Holly said. "Summoning a weapon is all about focusing your emotions on it. You must think of your cause and what you are determined to do. Then you must focus all that emotion through your gem." Holly reached behind her head and after a small twirl, her electro-whip appeared. "Like so," Holly said with a smile.

Later in the day, Connie was outside the bookstore giving an angry glare at a dumpster. Skinny was leaning against the wall eating a donut she had gotten from the built-in cafe at the bookstore.

Skinny smirked as Connie kept glaring at the dumpster. "Did Holly tell you the emotions thing?" Skinny asked.

"Yeah," Connie said. "I have to get really emotional at my target, so I can throw energy at them." Connie stopped glaring and paused. "I think."

"Listen, Connie," Skinny said placing her arm around Connie's shoulder. "All those emotions are so exhausting." Skinny took another bite of her donut. "Whenever I need to summon my weapon it just happens." Skinny placed her hand in front of her gem grabbing a sword as it formed. She threw it in the direction of the dumpster, it circled back to her like a boomerang. Once she caught her sword, the dumpster just then split in two.

"See?" Skinny said. "Didn't try at all."

Simon suddenly came out the back door with a garbage bag in his hand. "Ahh!" Simon exclaimed upon seeing the split dumpster. "Again?!"

Connie figured that she should ask Tourmaline about summoning a weapon. When she asked, Tourmaline lead her to the top of the cliff above the giant statue and the house.

"So I'm supposed to work really hard and not try at the same time?" Connie asked.

"Yes, silly," Tourmaline said with a smile. Connie just stared at Tourmaline with a blank face. Seeing this, Tourmaline could tell that Connie didn't understand, so she came up with another idea. "Or," Tourmaline said as the gem on her head began to glow. A pink light also came from beneath her tank top, but Connie didn't know why. "You can link your mind with all the emotions in your opponent. Understand that emotion and take it in with thought but also relaxation. Which results in…" Tourmaline did a few motions with her arms and hips. One shield on each of her arms appeared. "At least that's my way of doing it."

Connie didn't think any of this confusing advice was getting her anywhere, so she came up with an idea. Connie gathered all the gems back into her room.

"I think that the best way to summon my weapon is to reenact what happened the last time my gem glowed," Connie said. "Let's see. Tourmaline and Skinny were over here." Connie pointed at Tourmaline and Skinny who were sitting on the couch. "Holly was next to the book case." Connie pointed at Holly as she stood next to the book case. Connie stopped for a moment to think.

"Skinny," Connie said pointing at Skinny. "I think your arms were crossed."

"Okay, Your Highness," Skinny said with a smile as she crossed her arms.

"Holly," Connie said. "Your foot was like this." Connie slightly turned Holly's foot.

"I don't think it works this way, Connie," Holly said.

"I need to test every variable," Connie said. "Oh, and then I hugged this book." Connie pulled the book out of her book case. "Oh, wait. I said a few words too." Connie closed her eyes. "Oh, Lisa and Archamicarus, you're back in my life."

Connie opened one of her eyes. Her gem didn't glow at all. Connie sighed and slumped onto the floor. "Maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem," Connie said.

"Don't be ridiculous, Connie," Holly said kneeling down to Connie's height. "Of course you are."

"Yeah," Skinny said. "And you're really fun to have around even if your gem is useless."

Holly shot a glare and a growl at Skinny.

"Uh," Skinny said. "I mean you're one of us, Connie. We're not the Crystal Gems without you."

"Yep," Tourmaline said with a smile.

"Yeah," Connie said with diamonds appearing in her eyes. "Even if I don't have powers, I've still got… _Unfamiliar Familiar_!"

Connie opened the book and began to read the first sentences on the first page. She could suddenly hear Tourmaline and Skinny gasping.

"Connie," Holly said. "You have cryokinesis."

Connie looked up to see tons of flurries and snowflakes swirling around her.

"Aw what?!" Connie exclaimed. "I have ice powers?! Aww yes!"

After Connie's last sentence, all the snowflakes and flurries around her turned into ice sickles and flew in all different directions, damaging nearly everything in the house.

Skinny did her best to hold back her laughter as Holly sighed and face-palmed herself.

Connie looked down at the book in her hands. She gasped. " _Unfamiliar Familiar_. I summoned my powers by reading books!"

"I knew you said reading was magic, but I didn't know you meant it caused literal magic," Tourmaline said.

Suddenly, they all heard rumbling from outside and saw a giant figure crawl up the house's wall.

"What was that?" Connie asked.

Holly quickly rushed out with Skinny and Tourmaline right behind her. They all looked up to see a large version of all the monsters they had been fighting.

"It's the mother!" Holly exclaimed. She quickly jumped off of the front deck and towards the top of the cliff.

"You should sit this out," Tourmaline said following Holly.

"Catch you later, girl," Skinny said following Holly and Tourmaline.

"Wait! I can help!" Connie yelled as she ran back into the house and grabbed her book.

Holly wrapped her electro-whip around the monster's horns that were on it's head and pulled it down to the sandy shore. Tourmaline quickly threw two pink shields at the monster, distracting it for a second allowing Skinny to harm it slightly with her sword.

Holly was about to go in for another attack when the monster hit her hard with one of it's giant paws, sending her flying across the beach and hitting Tourmaline knocking them both out.

"Holly! Tourmaline!" Skinny exclaimed moving them behind a rock in the shape of a hand just before the monster could hit them with a giant fireball.

"Man!" Skinny yelled as she held onto Tourmaline and Holly and more fireballs kept hitting the rock. "We could really use Connie's ice right about now!"

A rock suddenly hit the monster on the head. The one one who had thrown the rock was Connie. "Hey!" Connie yelled. The monster turned it's head and focused its attention on Connie. "Leave them alone!" Connie yelled.

"Connie!" Skinny yelled peaking her head around the rock. "What are you doing, girl?"

"Unfamiliar Familiar Super Combo Powers activate!" Connie yelled as she opened her book. "Lisa drew the sword forth as she saw the monster come closer." Connie's gem didn't do anything. "Uh, with one mighty swish of the sword, the creature was wounded." Connie's gem still didn't do anything. "Uh oh," Connie said as she looked up at the monster.

Connie started to run away as the monster started to shoot fireballs again.

Meanwhile, Holly and Tourmaline were starting to become conscious again. "Uh, Connie, wha?" Holly said lifting her head up above her head. She suddenly ducked down just barely missing a spike that was launched her way.

Connie tripped and dropped her book. A fireball was thrown her way. Connie quickly rolled out of the way before to could hit her. Connie looked back and saw her book was on fire.

"Oh no," Connie said running over to the ruined book. "No. No. No. No." Connie looked down and saw that her hands had started to freeze. She quickly seized this as her chance. She grabbed the flaming book and chucked it at the monster. "Revenge!" Connie yelled.

The book landed in the the monster's messy mane, sending it ablaze. The monster cried out.

"Guys, this is our chance," Tourmaline said summoning her shields.

Holly and Skinny summoned their weapons as well. "Alright, gems," Tourmaline said. "Let's do this." Skinny and Holly nodded. They all dashed at the monster at once causing it to poof. Tourmaline quickly bubbled the maroon, circular gem that fell to the ground.

"Farewell, sweet _Unfamiliar Familiar_ ," Connie said burying her book in the ground. "I'll always remember the sweet memories we shared together."

"Are you crying?" Skinny asked plopping down next to Connie.

"Only a little!" Connie exclaimed.

"Well, I guess your powers don't come from books," Skinny said.

"Of course they don't come from books," Holly said kneeling down. "Don't worry, Connie. You'll figure out how to control your powers someday."

"Yes," Tourmaline said. "You'll do it in the best way. Your own Connie way."

"Thanks guys," Connie said. She suddenly heard her stomach grumble. "Well, I'm down for pizza," Connie said. "Anyone with me?"

"I'm in," Skinny said.

"Okay," Tourmaline said.

"Very well," Holly said.

The group of gems laughed the night away laughing and celebrating about the first sign of Connie's powers.


	2. Laser Ice Canon

Connie was headed for the Fry Shop with Tourmaline following behind her.

"Hey, Mrs. Fryman," Connie said placing her hands on the counter. "I'll take the bits, please."

"Connie, we're closed," Mrs. Fryman said as she turned the sign from "open" to "closed".

"Aww, what," Connie said.

"Aww, come on, Fryman," Tourmaline said. "Give Connie the bits. The bits." Tourmaline began to chant "the bits" As she hit the counter with her fists. Connie joined in and started to chant and bang the counter as well.

"Okay. Okay," Mrs. Fryman said. "Take it easy on the counter. I'll make some fry bits."

"Yes," Connie and Tourmaline said as they high-fived each other.

"You know I could make you actual fries," Mrs. Fyman said as she dropped some fry bits into a bag.

"Just the bits, please," Connie said. Mrs. Fryman handed her the bag and Connie gave her some money. "Thanks," Connie said as she and Tourmaline walked away.

Connie and Tourmaline started to eat the bits. "You know, Tourmaline," Connie said.

"Hmm?" Tourmaline replied as she chewed on some fry bits.

"I could have sworn the sun went down around an hour ago," Connie said. "But it looks like it's still right up there in the sky."

"Wait, what?" Tourmaline said looking up into the sky. She could see a giant red orb in the sky.

"Oh no," Tourmaline said. "We've got to to move."

"What?" Connie asked.

"No time to explain," Tourmaline said picking Connie up making her drop her bag of fry bits.

"My bits!" Connie said as Tourmaline quickly carried her to the beach.

Holly and Skinny were both already on the beach. Holly was looking at the orb through a telescope while Skinny looked at it with her naked eye.

"That doesn't look good," Skinny said.

"Look at the size of it," Holly said. "I had no idea these things were so big."

"Gems!" Tourmaline called as she ran up behind them placing Connie on the ground.

"Tourmaline," Holly said once she had turned around. "Thank the stars you're here. We need your calculations."

"It's a red eye," Tourmaline said as she adjusted her visor. "It's speed is too great. If we don't stop it, it will crush us all into oblivion."

"How do we stop it?" Connie asked.

"It has really sturdy structure," Tourmaline said. "It seems the only thing powerful enough to destroy it is the laser ice canon that belonged to Blue Diamond."

"My mom?" Connie asked.

"If Blue was here, this would be so easy," Skinny said.

"I know," Holly said. "But she's not."

"If it belonged to my mom, I bet my dad knows where it is," Connie said. "He can help us save the town."

Connie looked at each of the gems' faces to see if they approved.

"Greg is…" Holly said pausing for a second. "…nice, Connie. But I highly doubt that Blue would entrust such a powerful weapon with someone like Greg."

"Yeah, your dad's kind of a mess, Connie," Skinny said.

"Skinny," Holly said.

"I'm just saying," Skinny said. "If Blue had given it to him, he probably would have lost it, broke it, or thrown it in the ocean by now."

"But then what do we do to stop the red eye?" Connie asked.

"Don't worry," Skinny said. "Tourmaline and I have a plan."

"We do?" Tourmaline asked.

"Yeah," Skinny said. "Plan 234."

"Skinny," Tourmaline said. "There's no way that's going to work. You can't penetrate that red eye with your own strength."

"Come on," Skinny said. "I can take it."

Tourmaline sighed. "Okay. Fine."

Tourmaline picked up Skinny and jumped high into the air. After she did a few summersaults, Tourmaline threw Skinny in the direction of the red eye.

Skinny yelled out as she flew towards the red eye. Once she hit the red eye, no damage was done. On impact, Skinny fell from the red eye into the ocean.

"I'm…" Connie said hesitating. "I'm gonna go." Connie started to walk away.

"Okay," Holly said not taking her eyes off of the red eye. "Okay. You go do that."

Connie went to the local carwash at Beach City where her dad worked. She didn't see him outside, so she figured he was likely asleep in is van.

Connie began to bang on the back doors of her dad's van.

"Dad?" Connie called. "Dad? Wake up!" Connie banged her whole body against the doors. "We have to save the town!" Connie got on top of the van and started to jump on the roof of it. "Dad? Dad?!" Connie continued to jump on the roof of the van until she fell on her back and set off the car alarm. Connie sat up with a smile on her face knowing that the alarm would surely wake her dad up.

"Who's there?!" Greg exclaimed hopping out of the van. "I've got a waffle iron!" Greg held up a waffle iron.

"Dad, it's me!" Connie yelled over the alarm.

Greg turned around to see Connie on top of the van. He stood there for a moment just looking at her as his car alarm continued to go off. He slowly raised up his keys and pressed a button, turning off the car alarm.

"Connie?" Greg asked.

Connie jumped down from the van and gave her dad a hug.

"I almost waffled your face!" Greg exclaimed when he pulled himself out of the hug. "What are you doing out so late?"

"What do you mean?" Connie asked. "The sun went down over an hour ago."

"Oh," Greg said with a bit of blush appearing on his cheeks. "It was a small day at the car wash. Anyway what's up? Just wanted to see your old man? Pal around? Learn some lessons about life?"

"No," Connie said. "I need help blowing up that giant eyeball."

"Eyeball?" Greg asked. He and Connie looked up into the sky to see the red eye. In a second, they saw Skinny flying through the sky, hitting the eyeball, and falling back into the ocean.

"Wait," Greg said. "Is that a magic thing? The gems told me not to get involved in magic stuff."

"I just need your help at finding Mom's laser ice canon," Connie said.

"Her what?" Greg asked.

"It's a weapon that the gems said Mom owned that can destroy that thing," Connie said.

"Well," Greg said. "I guess I know where it might be."

Greg led Connie down a few sidewalks until they came across a series of storage sheds.

"Woah," Connie said. "I didn't know you had a storage shed."

"Yeah," Greg said. "I just use it to store things that don't fit in the van."

Greg slowly opened the shed door to reveal several boxes stuffed full of junk.

"Hmm," Connie said as she examined the tight spaces in between the stacked boxes. "I'm going in."

"Okay," Greg said. "Just be careful."

Connie slowly crawled under some boxes that made a small arch. Once she was past the wall of boxes, she looked around.

"How many places have you been, Dad?" Connie asked as she looked around.

"Too many to count I guess," Greg said. "When I was a one-man band, I traveled everywhere. Then I came into town to play a concert, and no one showed up except for…"

"Seagulls!" Connie yelled.

"No, silly," Greg said. "It was your mother."

"I know," Connie said after a laugh.

"And we were always together after that," Greg continued. "Then she gave up her physical form to bring you into the world."

Connie suddenly heard glass shatter. She looked down to see a broken picture frame containing a picture of her mom and dad. Greg had a hotdog stuffed in his mouth with a goofy grin in his face. Next to him was a blue woman looking at Greg with both fascination and humor.

"I don't know what a magical woman like her ever saw in an average, old dope like me," Greg said.

"Dad," Connie called. "I broke a photo."

"That's okay," Greg said. "If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."

Connie looked over and saw an item glowing a bright blue.

"Man," Greg said looking at the red eye in the sky. "That thing is giving me the willies."

"Dad, I found it!" Connie called.

"Really?" Greg asked.

"I need some kind of rope," Connie said.

Greg handed her and extension cord connected to another and another after that and so on. Connie quickly tied the extension cord around the laser ice canon.

"Okay!" Connie called. "It's ready!"

"Rodger!" Greg called back as he started up the engine. With one big pull, the van successfully pulled the canon out of the shed along with everything in front of it.

"We've got to get this to the gems," Connie said getting out of the shed.

"How?" Greg asked. "It won't fit in the van."

As if on cue, a small trailer, usually meant for carrying heavy things, rolled next to Connie. It took all of Greg and Connie's strength to get the ice canon onto the trailer. As luck would have it, the trailer was just strong enough to hold the canon. Greg and Connie quickly got into the van and drove towards the beach.

"Geeze," Greg said. "That thing's getting huge."

"Can't the van go any faster?" Connie asked.

Greg quickly stepped on the gas, but the van didn't speed up that much at all. "This is faster," Greg said.

The red eye was getting really close to then and started to suck things off of the ground.

Greg and Connie finally pulled up onto the beach where Tourmaline and Holly were standing. They both looked down at the water as Skinny washed up onto the shore.

"Throw me again," Skinny said getting up. "I think I'm cracking it."

The three gems looked over to see Connie and Greg with the ice canon.

"Is that?" Skinny asked.

"He actually had it?" Holly asked with a bit of disbelief in her voice.

"We're saved!" Skinny exclaimed. She suddenly started to float off of the ground. Tourmaline quickly caught her ankle before she could float off.

"We only have one minute left until impact!" Tourmaline exclaimed. "We have to use it now!"

"I don't know how it works!" Holly exclaimed looking the ice canon over. "It was Blue's!"

"Dad," Connie said. "How do we use it?"

"I don't know," Greg said. "I never saw your mother in action."

"Forget it!" Skinny exclaimed. "Just throw me again!"

"That's not going to work," Tourmaline said. "The red eye will surely shatter you."

Connie started to rub her gem against the canon. "Maybe if I just…" Connie said. "Come on. Unlock. Activate. Fire. Please. Everyone's counting on you. You can't just be worthless. I know you can help."

"It's okay, Connie," Greg said. "We'll think of something else."

"Right," Connie said with diamonds appearing in her eyes. "If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."

The canon suddenly started to glow. Connie fell off as it unfolded into a pattern that looked like a snowflake. The canon fell to the ground. Connie quickly tried to lift it. She felt it get lighter and turned around with diamonds appearing in her eyes to see the other gems holding the canon up too.

"Connie!" Holly exclaimed.

"This is it!" Skinny yelled over the noise.

"Brace yourselves!" Tourmaline yelled.

In a flash of light, a large blast of ice was headed for the red that then shifted into the form of a woman outstretching her hand. On impact, the red eye exploded and pieces of it fell into the ocean.

"Connie," Skinny said. "you just saved Beach City."

"How did you get it to work?" Holly asked.

"I just said that thing that Dad always says," Connie said.

"That thing about pork grinds?" Holly asked.

"Hotdogs, Holly," Tourmaline said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Blue," Greg said wiping a few tears from his eyes.

The ocean level suddenly rose, and the current caught Greg's van, pulling it out to sea.

"My van!" Greg exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Dad," Connie said. "If every pork chop were perfect…"

"I live in there!" Greg interrupted as her ran out into the water after his van.

"Wait up, Dad," Connie said going into the water after him.

"Holly," Tourmaline said. "Couldn't you use your whip to pull the van in?"

"I'll let them figure it out on their own," Holly said.

 **Hey guys!**

 **I'm sorry if this chapter felt like cardboard cut outs of the original characters. Some of the season 1 chapters are likely going to feel that way. When we get to more plot heavy things, that's when things will have more changes. Holly and Skinny are just already extremely similar to Pearl and Amethyst and Tourmaline, obviously is an OC. For now, I'm going to try and do a chapter for every episode and possibly short as well. I will include changes wherever I can to try and make it more my own personal story. Just bear with me for now.**

 **Thanks!**

 **~Stevidot4ever**


	3. Storage Gem

Connie was sitting in her room waiting for the gems to come back from another mission. She tried watching TV, but Under the Knife and Camp Pining Hearts were currently on hiatus. She tried to read a book, but it wasn't very fun after reading every book so many times. She just sat upside down on the couch letting all the blood rush to her head.

Suddenly, the warp pad went off. Connie looked up to see all three gems standing on the warp pad.

"You're back!" Connie happily said getting up.

"Hello, Connie," Holly said pulling several feathers out of her hair.

"Skinny," Tourmaline said. "I'm telling you that all of my calculations are saying that is not going to fit in Connie's fridge."

Skinny was holding a giant egg in her arms as she tried to find a way to put it in the fridge.

"Oh, you rely too much on your precious calculations," Skinny said. "You just take out this shelf and…" Skinny slipped the egg into the fridge. "See? It fits." Skinny put her hand out the fridge door meaning to close it.

"Skinny," Tourmaline said. "No. Wait."

It was too late. Skinny shut the fridge. All the gems could hear the egg break inside.

"Oops," Skinny said.

"I'll clean that up later," Holly sighed.

"What happened to you guys?" Connie asked.

"We fought a giant bird," Tourmaline said. "We can't stay. We have to head back out."

"What?" Connie asked. "But you guys just got back."

"We're sorry, Connie," Holly said. "but we don't have much time. We need to place this moon goddess statue on top of the lunar sea spire." Holly pulled out the moon goddess statue.

"Wow," Connie said with diamonds appearing in her eyes. "Can I see it?"

"I don't see why not," Holly said. "Just be careful." Holly handed the statue to Connie.

"Cool," Connie said looking at the statue.

Suddenly, Connie's gem began to glow. It got so bright that all the gems and Connie had to cover their eyes. When they opened their eyes, the moon goddess statue was gone.

"What happened?" Connie asked looking at her now empty hands.

"What happened to the moon goddess statue?" Holly exclaimed.

"Now, Holly," Tourmaline said placing a hand on Holly's shoulder. "All my calculations say that with the amount of time that we had our eyes closed, the statue couldn't have gotten more than a few inches away from Connie.

"It ain't by her feet, Tourm," Skinny said getting on the floor and staring at Connie's feet. She lifted Connie's foot to look under it. "Not under her feet either."

"The only way this could happen is if it is in Connie's gem," Tourmaline said.

"My gem?" Connie asked looking down her shirt.

"Your mother had many powers, Connie," Tourmaline said kneeling in front of her with her hands placed on Connie's shoulders. "Among those powers, she was able to store any object in her gem."

"Tourmaline," Connie said. "are you saying that there might be a solid object inside of me?"

"Basically, yes," Tourmaline said getting up.

"Well, how does she get it out?" Holly panicked. "We have to put that statue in its shrine by midnight."

"I'm not sure," Tourmaline said. "Blue had her own way of summoning her powers."

"Can't you just like tell the object to leave your gem or something?" Skinny asked.

"I'll try," Connie said looking down at her gem again. "Okay, statue. Get out of my gem!" Nothing happened. Connie then tried to force it out with pressure. Still, nothing happened.

"This isn't working," Skinny said.

"Thank-you, Skinny," Holly said. "Thank-you for stating the obvious."

"Hey," Skinny said. "I don't see you coming up with any ideas. All you're doing is panicking."

"And all you're doing is lounging," Holly snapped.

"Hey, it's not my fault the statue's stuck inside Connie's gem," Skinny said. "Now all you're doing is squawking at me!"

"I don't squawk!" Holly yelled.

"Yeah you do!" Skinny yelled. "You're doing right now! Squawk! Squawk!"

"Really mature!" Holly retorted.

"Cut it out you two!" Tourmaline said as she tried to break up their fight.

"Guys," Connie said. It was inaudible with all the yelling.

"Why can't my gem ever do what I need it to do?" Connie said. "I need the moon goddess statue!"

A bright light appeared from Connie's gem again. The gems' arguing ceased and everyone covered their eyes once more. When the light finally died down and the gems opened their eyes, the moon goddess statue was in Connie's hand.

"Woah," Skinny said. "How'd you do that, Connie?"

"I just said I needed the statue and it appeared," Connie said.

"That's it?" Tourmaline asked. "That seems a little too simple to activate a power."

"We don't have time to ponder on this," Holly said. "We have got to get to the lunar sea spire before midnight."

"Wait," Connie said. "Can I come? Please?"

"No, Connie," Holly said. "You're still having difficulties with your powers. It will be much too dangerous for you."

"But I can help," Connie said. "I can…I can…I can carry the statue in my gem."

"No," Holly said. "No. No. No. No. No. Out of the question. We just barely got it out of your gem just now."

"Well," Skinny said. "Connie technically is the one who got it out of her gem. Besides she can do it easily. You heard her. She said that she just has to say she needs it and it appears."

"This could be a good chance for Connie to learn a little," Tourmaline said.

"You can't be serious," Holly said to Tourmaline.

"Connie can handle it," Tourmaline said.

Holly sighed. "Very well." Holly handed the statue to Connie.

Connie held the statue to her gem. The gem glowed but not as bright as the last two times. The statue disappeared into her gem.

"Oh, wait," Connie said. "I should grab some more supplies."

"Connie, there's no time," Holly said.

"Let her go," Tourmaline said.

Connie quickly went all over her room and gathered as much stuff as she could. As she grabbed each item, it swiftly entered her gem.

"Connie," Holly called. "Let's go."

"Coming," Connie said walking down her stairs and hopping onto the warp.

"Oh, stars, Connie," Holly said. "Did you bring your whole room."

"I like to be prepared," Connie said.

"Okay," Tourmaline said. "Let's warp."

The warp pad lit up, and the Crystal Gems were off.

"Do you remember how to do this?" Holly asked watching Connie float around in the warp stream.

"Woah," Connie laughed as she kept doing summersaults and spinning around. "This feels so weird." She backed up too far, and her head slightly floated outside the warp stream.

"Get your head back in," Tourmaline said pulling Connie back into the stream.

The gems all landed on a warp pad in front of the sea spire.

"Woah," Connie said looking up with diamonds in her eyes. "The sea spire."

"It seems like there is structure instability," Tourmaline said adjusting her visor.

"Oh, yeah," Connie said. "This place is really falling apart." Connie was standing at the very edge of the cliff. Cracks in the ground suddenly formed.

"Connie!" Holly exclaimed.

"What was that?" Connie asked Holly's whip, without any sparks, wrapped around her and pulled her towards the group just before the ground gave away and fell into the sea.

"Okay. Okay," Holly said clinging onto Connie. "This mission is much too dangerous for Connie."

"Chill, Holly Blue," Skinny said. "You can't make her leave after one mishap."

"Besides," Tourmaline said. "If we take Connie back, there's almost no chance of is putting the statue back on time."

"Fine," Holly grumbled.

The gems headed for the spire. They came to halt at the end of a cliff only a few feet away from a doorway to the sea spire.

"What's the holdup?" Skinny asked. "We can clear this easily."

"No," Tourmaline said. "The magic that sustains the whirlpool creates a vortex making it impossible for us to pass."

Tourmaline picked up a nearby boulder and threw it toward the sea spire. It stopped in mid air and was instantly pulled down.

"So we can't jump?" Holly asked.

"Oh, wait," Connie said. "I got it. Gem, I need those sweaters." A couple of sweaters came out of her gem."

"How are sweaters supposed to help," Skinny asked.

"Well," Connie said. "I did brig them in case we got cold, but now they're going to get us across."

Connie tied one sleeve on a sweater to the sleeve of another. She threw it out to the spire like a rope wile hanging onto one end of it. It went through a small opening above the doorway and circled back to her. Connie held onto both ends of the chain of sweaters. She took a deep breath before jumping.

"Connie!" all the gems exclaimed.

Connie hit the wall and continued to hold on to the sweaters as she felt the pull of the whirlpool.

"She's getting sucked down!" Skinny exclaimed.

Connie pulled on the sweaters and ran up the wall. Connie climbed into the doorway heavily panting with a smile on her face.

"Connie!" Skinny yelled. "Wait to go! Come on, Holly!"

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Holly said as she summoned her whip. She swung her whip to where it wrapped several times around the opening above the doorway. Tourmaline and Skinny hanged onto Holly as she jumped and swung to the doorway.

"Well," Holly said. "it worked. But don't do that again."

"Sorry," Connie said as she followed the gems up a set of stairs.

"Oh, dear," Holly said as they walked. "This place is in total ruin."

"Hey, what are these?" Connie said as she looked at weird slug-like creatures on a statue.

"Connie, get away from those!" Holly said as she summoned her whip and sliced the statue in two. The top half of the statue fell into the sea with the weird creatures on it.

"What's wrong?" Connie asked.

"Those were crystal shrimp, Connie," Holly said. "Those shards on them are deadly. You can't get near them like that."

"Hey, guys!" Skinny called from the top of the stairs. "We have a problem!"

Holly and Connie rushed up the stairs to see crystal shrimp everywhere.

"You've got to be kidding me," Holy said. "It's an infestation."

"How do we get past them?" Skinny asked.

"Crystal shrimp aren't all that smart," Tourmaline said. "All we should need is some sort of distraction."

"I need those bagel sandwiches," Connie said to her gem.

"This is no time to be eating, Connie," Holly said.

"They're not for me," Connie said. "They'll make the perfect…distraction!" Connie threw a bagel sandwich to the right and left side of the room as she said "distraction".

The crystal shrimp all went in the direction of one of the sandwiches.

"I guess that works," Tourmaline said.

"Oh, what do ya know," Skinny said.

The gems all moved forward and walked up the next flight of stairs.

"Watch out!" Tourmaline exclaimed just before water burst through a wall, blocking their path. Everyone looked at Connie.

"What?" Connie asked.

"What have you got?" Tourmaline asked.

"Yeah, Connie," Skinny said. "What ya got in your storage gem?"

"Gem," Connie said. "I need that raft." A raft formed from Connie's gem.

"Nice," Skinny said.

Connie pulled the lever to inflate the raft.

"Connie," Tourmaline said. "Wait."

Too late. Connie already threw the raft onto the flowing water. It fell right off the side and down the waterfall.

"Oh," Connie said.

From behind Holly, Skinny, and Connie, Tourmaline kicked down a column causing it to fall over and create a bridge.

"It was still a good idea, Connie," Tourmaline said as she crossed over. The other gems followed behind her. They all progressed up another flight of stairs to the top of the sea spire.

"Okay," Holly said. "This is good. We still have a few minutes left until midnight."

"Connie," Tourmaline said looking at the girl. "The statue."

"Right," Connie said. "Gem, I need the moon goddess statue." Nothing happened. "Uh, gem, the statue." Her gem still didn't respond.

"What's the hold up?" Skinny asked.

"My gem isn't responding," Connie said.

"What do you mean it's not responding?" Holly asked.

"It won't give me the statue," Connie said.

"This is bad," Tourmaline said. "We only have one minute left."

"Gem," Skinny said looking at Connie's gem. "we're through playing around. Give us the statue!" Connie's gem remained unresponsive.

"Please, gem," Connie said. "We need that statue!"

"Ten seconds!" Tourmaline exclaimed.

"Gem," Connie said. "Please."

Suddenly, the statue exited Connie's gem. "I got it!"

"Too late!" Tourmaline exclaimed. "It's past midnight!"

As if on cue, the sea spire began to shake, and the waterfalls surrounding it began to collapse.

"Hold it steady!" Tourmaline yelled. Skinny lost her balance and fell on top of Holly. Connie began to lose her balance as well. She desperately tried not to as she was standing on the very edge of the spire.

"Connie!" Tourmaline exclaimed pulling Connie away from the edge. As Tourmaline did so, Connie lost her grip on the statue, and it fell off of the spire and into the ocean.

"The statue!" Holly exclaimed.

"Hold on everyone!" Tourmaline yelled as the remaining pieces of the spire went under the water.

The gems were pulled underwater for a second. In a moment or two, they all resurfaced gasping for air.

"Is everyone okay?" Tourmaline asked.

"I'm fine," Holly said as she spat out some water.

"I'm good," Skinny said.

"I'm sorry guys," Connie said. "It's all my fault. I broke it."

"No, Connie," Holly said. "You were fine. You handled everything so well under pressure."

"Yeah," Skinny said. "Two out of four of your ideas worked. That's fifty percent."

Diamonds appeared in Connie's eyes. "Yeah," Connie said. "They can't all be winners."

Suddenly the raft from before surfaced on the water.

"Yes!" Connie exclaimed.

All the gems climbed onto the raft.

"See?" Skinny said. "You and your storage gem are awesome."

"I have to admit," Holly said. "This did all come in handy."

Tourmaline adjusted her visors. "According to my calculations, it's a three hour paddle home."

"Oh," Holly, Skinny, and Connie said.

 **Hey guys!**

 **I hope** **you enjoyed this chapter. I will try and update at least once a week. As for plot and changes, I'm figuring it out as I go. I do want to know if you guys want me to include Holly being in love with Blue Diamond like Pearl was with Rose.**

 **Thanks!**

 **~Stevidot4ever**


	4. Temple Explorer

It was a beautiful morning in Beach City. Connie opened the window to gaze at the rising sun.

"Everyone's out," Connie said to herself. "I guess I'm making us breakfast."

Connie quickly gathered up the stuff she needed to make make breakfast and laid them out on the counter. She popped a few waffles into the toaster.

Connie walked over to the temple door and knocked. "Tourmaline? Holly?" she called. There was no response.

Connie walked back into the kitchen and stacked the waffles on top of one another. She then placed a couple bags of microwave popcorn into the microwave.

Connie sat in the middle of her room.

"3…2…1…" Connie said. "Warp in." Nothing happened.

Connie plopped onto the ground with a sigh. "I guess they're still out saving the world," Connie said.

Connie took a bottle of syrup and covered the waffles with it. She grabbed the popcorn from the microwave and covered the breakfast with the popcorn.

Connie opened the front door. "Tourmaline? Skinny?" Connie called. No one appeared, and no one responded. Connie stepped back inside of her room and closed the door.

Connie walked over to the breakfast and covered it in a large bit of whip cream on top. She grabbed one strawberry that she was sure was ripe and carefully placed it on top of the bit of whip cream.

"It's done!" Connie happily exclaimed as she held her finished work up in the air.

Connie sat the breakfast sown and sighed. "I wish the gems were here," Connie said. "They'd probably like this. It's like it's a mix of different meals all brought together. Kind of like our team. It's a… together breakfast."

Suddenly, the warp pad went off. Connie turned to see Tourmaline standing on the pad.

"Good morning, Connie," Tourmaline said.

"Oh, Tourmaline," Connie said. "You're just on time. I finished breakfast. It's a new recipe I tried out. You know it brings a whole bunch of different flavors together kind of like us since we're all different. I call it the together breakfast."

"Connie," Tourmaline said. "as much as I would love to stay and chat, I can't."

"Aww," Connie said. "Why?"

"I must burn this," Tourmaline said as she unrolled a black scroll with weird markings in it.

"Woah," Connie said. "That's so cool." Connie snapped a picture of the scroll with her phone.

Tourmaline grabbed Connie's phone. "I'm terribly sorry, Connie," Tourmaline said. "But your phone must now be disinfected, and the only way to do that is to burn it." Tourmaline turned around and opened her temple door. Connie tried to chase after Tourmaline as she entered her room, but the door closed.

"Aww man," Connie said. "I just downloaded the latest episode of _Under The Knife_." Connie started to walk back to her breakfast when the door suddenly burst open.

"'Sup, Connie," Skinny said walking through the door.

Connie suddenly noticed there was discarded whip cream on the floor. "Skinny," Connie said. "Look out for that…" Before Connie could finish her sentence, Skinny had already slipped up on the whip cream and was stumbling towards the counter.

"No, no, no, no," Connie said as she caught Skinny just before she could fall onto the together breakfast.

"Skinny," Connie said as she helped Skinny back onto her feet. "You need to be more careful. You almost ruined our breakfast, and you could have hurt yourself."

"Sorry, Con…" Skinny was interrupted at the sound of the temple door opening. An orange line zigzagged down the door.

"Hey," Skinny said. "That's my door." As she finished her sentence Holly walked out the door with a strange gadget in her hands.

"Oh, Skinny," Holly said once she noticed the gem. "There you are. Care to tell my why another one of my gadgets was in your room… _again_?"

"How should I know?" Skinny said crossing her arms.

"Oh, please," Holly said. "You stole it."

"I did not," Skinny said. "You just want to blame me for you misplacing your things."

"Whatever," Holly said. "It's in the past. I forgive you." Skinny groaned. "By the way, I hope you can still find that little treasure of yours."

"What?" Skinny said. "You didn't. Oh, come on. I just found that, Holly." Skinny ran through the temple door and into her room.

"Wait, Skinny," Connie said as she tried to chase the gem only for the temple door to close in her face again.

"What's the matter, Connie?" Holly asked as Connie walked back over to the kitchen.

"I wanted all of us to bond in an effective way to strengthen our relationship as a team, so I created a new dish I call Together Breakfast. But everyone is so busy with gem-errands that no one has time to eat it."

"Oh, that's nice, Connie," Holly said opening her temple door. She walked into a dark room that illuminated in neon blue lights as soon as she walked in.

"What?" Connie said. "I worked too hard for this food to be spoiled." Connie quickly stopped the temple door before it could close and squeezed herself into the room.

Connie took a good look around the place. The room looked to be a couple stories tall with all sorts of gadgets and weapons adorning the walls. In the middle of the room was a tall, black pillar that, like the room, had blue neon symbols all over it. On top of it was Holly quickly tapping away on holographic screens.

Connie could see that every time Holly pushed a button or made a stroke on the screens, something in the room was rearranged.

"There we go," Holly said with a grin. "Everything is back in its place."

"Woah," Connie said with diamonds appearing in her eyes. "This is so cool."

Holly gasped and turned around. "Connie!" Holly exclaimed making the hologram screens disappear. Holly stopped her boot on a button on the floor of the pillar she was standing on. A ramp formed, which wrapped around the pillar. Once the ramp was fully formed, Holly skillfully slid down it and came to a stop directly in front of Connie.

"What are you doing in here?" Holly asked. "You know it's dangerous for you inside the temple." Holly raised up her hand as a sparkle appeared from her index finger, and the temple door opened.

"I just wanted you to try some of my breakfast, but your room is way cooler than my dish," Connie said placing the together breakfast on the floor and walking around the room.

"Connie," Holly said picking up the breakfast. "I'll eat some of your breakfast, but you have to get out of here before you get hurt."

"Wow," Connie said looking at a red button the size of her head. "What does this do?" Connie started to reach out.

"Wait! Connie, don't touch that!" Holly exclaimed. Too late. Connie pressed the button. A red laser shot from the ceiling and was headed for Holly. She quickly ducked down, throwing the breakfast up into the air as she did so. The laser hit the breakfast causing it to turn into dust.

"Whoops," Connie said. "Sorry, Holly."

"That's okay, Connie," Holly said getting up and dusting herself off.

"What was that?" Connie asked.

"Disintegration ray," Holly said. "A little something I've been working on."

"That was so awesome!" Connie said. "What other gadgets do you have in here?"

"I really don't think you should see anymore," Holly said. "You should head back into the beach house."

"Awe, come on," Connie said. "Please. I want to see more. It's so cool." Connie looked at a green button that was slightly smaller than the red one. "Is this one another weapon?"

"Well, no," Holly said.

"So, there's no harm in pressing it," Connie said as she reached for the button.

"Wait! Connie, that's the…" Holly tried to say. Connie pushed the button. The large pillar in the middle of the room sunk into the floor, and a hole appeared in its place. The floor slanted down and the hole started to try to suck things in.

Holly quickly hung onto a pipe on the wall. "…the disposal shoot!" Holly finished.

Connie desperately tried to hang onto something, but she completely lost her grip and fell through the hole.

"Connie!" Connie heard Holly exclaim as the hole closed and she fell through the darkness.

Connie suddenly felt herself land on something soft. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt so heavy. She suddenly felt a pair of hands shaking her.

"C'mon," someone said. "Get up, Sleeping Beauty."

Connie finally opened her eyes to se Skinny sitting next her.

"Skinny?" Connie asked getting up and rubbing her head.

"Well, it's about time you got up," Skinny said.

"Where am I?" Connie asked.

"You're in my room," Skinny said. "Your lucky I learned to keep the pillow pile underneath Holly's disposal shoot. And she says I'm not organized."

Connie got up and carefully climbed down the pile of pillows she landed on.

"Woah," Connie said as diamonds appeared in her eyes again. Skinny's room looked a lot like a large cave. Placed around the entirety of the room were piles of junk, which surprisingly looked somewhat organized. All along the walls were bright orange crystals.

"Pretty sweet, huh?" Skinny asked jumping down from the top of the pillow pile.

"I had no idea you had this much stuff in here," Connie said.

"Yep," Skinny said. "Been collecting for years. It's so hard to keep track of it all, though, with Holly Blue always rearranging my stuff if she thinks I stole one of her dumb gadgets. It's not my fault that her stuff is always falling down her disposal shoot."

"Wait," Connie said inspecting a pile. "What's that?" Connie leaned in to get a closer look.

Suddenly, a snake popped up out of the pile. "Snake!" Connie exclaimed running away with the snake on her tail.

"Connie!" Skinny yelled out as she chased after her.

Connie continued to run until she jumped and gripped onto a pink, glass pole.

"Gotcha!" Skinny exclaimed grabbing the snake and chucking it all the way back to her room. Skinny looked around at where they were. "Hey, wait a second."

"Connie!" Holly exclaimed appearing on the other side of the room.

"Holly?" Connie said.

"Oh, Connie be careful," Holly said.

"Huh?" Connie asked looking up. At the top of the pole she was gripping to, Connie could see a giant heart made out of pink crystal with tubes made of the same material reaching out to more rooms in the temple.

"You really shouldn't be here," Holly said. "This is the crystal heart. It's connected to the most dangerous parts of the temple. Hold on tight and don't look down."

Connie suddenly turned her attention to where the floor should have been only to see what looked like an endless hole that was pitch black. Connie felt herself slip as slid down the pink, crystal pole. She passed through several strange rooms until finally she came to a stop in a room that was mixed with the colors: green and pink.

Connie looked below her to see Tourmaline in front of a lava pit. Tourmaline pulled out Connie's phone, snapped it in two, and threw both pieces into the boiling lava.

"Aww," Connie quietly said as she watched.

Tourmaline then took the scroll and slowly lowered the bottom of it into the lava. The whole thing immediately caught fire and turned into smoke. Tourmaline immediately bubbled the smoke.

Connie slid down the rest of the pole until she reached the ground.

"Connie," Holly whispered grabbing Connie's shoulder. "We're getting you out of here."

"Come on," Skinny whispered.

"Wait, what is she doing?" Connie asked a little too loud. She quickly covered her mouth.

Tourmaline looked at the group behind her with a gasp. The bubble suddenly faltered. Tourmaline was quick to try and steady it. The three gems were quick to run to help Tourmaline.

"What's happening?" Connie asked.

"Connie, you've got to get out of here!" Tourmaline exclaimed.

"But…" Connie tried to say. Before she could finish her sentence, the bubble burst, the smoke was set free. Tourmaline quickly summoned her shield. "It's trying to escape! Force it back!"

The smoke approached Connie. Skinny leapt forward and cut off it's smoke arms. "Get back!" Skinny said.

Connie looked beside her to see that the snake from before was back. The smoke suddenly shot strait for the snake and disappeared inside it. The snake twitched.

"Snake?" Connie asked.

The snake suddenly grew larger and larger. It's fangs grew longer. It's eyes turned a glowing red. Its tongue began to duplicate until their were two tongues in its mouth.

"It's taken refuge in organic matter!" Holly exclaimed.

The giant snake spit a load of venom at he gem, pinning her to the floor. "Agh!" Holly exclaimed. "It's horrible!"

"I got this!" Skinny said as she charged at the beast. The snake wrapped its tongue around her and trapped her in its mouth.

"Spit her out!" Tourmaline yelled throwing several metal spikes at the snake. It was easily able to dodge all the spikes. It suddenly wrapped its tail around Tourmaline preventing her from being able to summon her weapon or get free.

"Hey you!" Connie yelled at the snake. "Over here!" The snake came closer. Connie quickly focused and aimed her hands to the floor. "Please work. Please work," Connie thought to her self. She opened her eyes to see the floor was completely covered in ice. She saw this as her opportunity. Connie quickly started to push the snake towards the lava pit. "Have a nice hot dip," Connie said as she pushed the snake into the pit.

The snake screeched out in pain as it returned to its smoke form. Tourmaline was free from the monster's tail and caught Skinny as she fell from the snake's no-longer-existing mouth.

"I'm okay," Skinny said.

Holly finally escaped from her imprisonment in the snake's venom. She walked up to the lava pit to join the others."

Connie sighed. "Man, I hate snakes."

The whole group laughed. "So do we, Connie," Tourmaline said with a smile patting Connie on the head.


	5. The Gadget

"Where is it?" Connie asked herself as she rummaged through her belongings. Holly suddenly appeared behind her. She, too, seemed to be looking for something.

"Hey, Holly," Connie said walking down the stairs.

"Connie, have you seen one of my gadgets around here?" Holly asked as she continued to look around.

"No," Connie said. "Have you seen my new phone. My dad just bought it for me after my last one got possessed by that weird smoke monster."

"Sorry, Connie," Holly said directing her attention to the girl. "I haven't seen your phone. I'm going to look around town for my gadget. Come and find me if you see it." Holly left the beach house and headed for the boardwalk.

"Okay," Connie called after her. She continued to look round for a second then it hit her.

"Oh man," Connie said to herself. "I don't even know what Holly's gadget looks like."

Connie quickly slipped on her jacket and headed down to the boardwalk.

"Holly," Connie called out. "Holly. She might be looking on the other side of town by now."

"I'm telling you, 'I don't know'!" Connie heard someone yell. She heard it come from the Funland Arcade. She took a peek inside to see the Smiley sisters, Rona and Paige, were arguing.

"Well, you obviously have to know where it is!" Rona yelled.

"Why would I know?!" Paige asked.

"Well, I haven't even seen it all day, so I haven't touched it," Rona said. "So, you had had to be the one who took it."

"Yeah, you're one to talk," Paige said. "You keeping your head wrapped around that phone of yours. How do I know someone else didn't just take it while you weren't looking?"

"Woah, guys," Connie said running up to the two. "What's going on?"

"Rona is trying to blame me for her mistakes again," Paige said.

"My mistakes?" Rona asked. "You're the one who lost it."

"For the last time," Paige said. "I haven't seen it."

"Haven't seen what?" Connie asked.

"Our mom's first dollar," Paige said. "She always keeps it on display right here." Paige pointed to an empty display case on the wall, near the ticket stand. "But now it's gone."

"What if someone else took it while you guys weren't looking," Connie said.

"That's likely possible," Rona said. "I was here for a few hours, working the morning shift then when Paige showed up, I took my break. When I came back to the stand, Paige and the dollar were gone."

"I told you," Paige said. "Someone asked me for assistance while you were on break. I didn't steal the dollar."

"What type of dollar was it?" Connie asked.

"It was a one-dollar-bill," Paige said.

"Why would someone want to steal one dollar?" Connie asked.

"I don't know," Rona said. "Would you have any ideas, Paige?"

"Do we have to go over this again?" Paige said in a mix of anger and annoyance.

"Guys!" Connie exclaimed. The sisters stopped arguing and stared at Connie. "I get that you're both upset, but if we continue to just argue, we won't figure anything out. So, let's handle this logically. Paige, when did you show up to the arcade?"

"Around 10:30," Paige said.

"Rona," Connie said. "Did you take your break immediately after Paige showed up?"

"Well, no," Rona said. "I stayed at the stand with her for about fifteen minutes before taking a break."

"How long were you on break?" Connie asked.

"Around thirteen minutes," Rona answered.

"Paige, when did you leave to help someone?" Connie asked.

"About 11:00," Paige said.

"Rona, what time was it by the time you made it back to the stand?" Connie asked.

"11:01," Rona said.

"But that can't be," Connie said. "Whoever stole the dollar had to have done it in seconds flat in order to not be seen."

"But if it took them less than a minute to get into the arcade, steal the dollar, and get out, doesn't that mean they could be anywhere now?" Paige asked.

"Not unless they were already in the arcade," Connie said.

"But I told you, Connie," Paige said. "I didn't steal it."

"I know," Connie said. "You're not the one who took it. I'm saying that someone could have been hiding in the arcade and when you two were gone, they took it as their chance and stole the dollar. In order to not be seen, they likely ducked back into their hiding spot. It's only 11:06. That means the thief might still be in here, waiting for the perfect moment to-"

Before Connie could finish her sentence, they all heard a trash can topple over and saw a shadow leave the arcade.

"That's gotta be the culprit!" Connie exclaimed.

"Get back here you thief!" Rona shouted as she chased after the shadow.

"Wait for us!" Paige called after Rona as she and Connie followed her.

They chased the strange shadow for several minutes before they followed it to an alley with a dead end.

"This is it!" Rona exclaimed. "We got him!"

The three of them walked down the alley to see the culprit more clearly. As they got closer, Connie could have sworn she saw blue lights. It suddenly hit her.

"Rona! Paige! Wait!" Connie exclaimed. "Don't get near that thing!" It was too late.

Large, metal hands wrapped around Rona and Page and stuffed them in a large containment vessel.

"Holly's gadget!" Connie exclaimed. As she finished her sentence, the gadget started to reach for her.

Suddenly, a light blue electric whip wrapped around the gadget's arms.

"Connie!" Holly exclaimed as she came into view. "It's a good thing I showed up when I did."

"Holly, what is that thing?!" Connie asked.

"It's a gadget gone wrong," Holly said. "It's supposed to find and collect things that are lost, but it malfunctioned. Now it just steals whatever object it can get its hands on."

"How do we stop it?" Connie asked.

"There's only one way," Holly said. "There's a self-destruction button on its head. You have to press it while I hold it off."

"But Rona and Paige are in it!" Connie exclaimed.

"What?!" Holly panicked. "But it's not supposed to collect people."

"Well, it likes to against programming apparently," Connie said.

"I don't know what we need to do," Holly sadly said.

Connie suddenly started to run strait for the gadget's containment vessel. "Connie!" Holly exclaimed.

Connie jumped onto the gadget and started to pull with all her might on the panel that covered the containment vessel. Connie's hands suddenly felt cold. She looked down to see her ice powers were coming back. She seized this as her opportunity and freezes the panel off. Rona and Paige came bursting out.

"Hurry, Connie!" Holly exclaimed. "I don't know if I can hold it off much longer!"

"But our stuff," Connie said.

"Press the button!" Holly yelled.

Connie did as she was told and quickly ran as far away from the gadget as she could. Holly, Rona, and Paige quickly followed behind her.

After a minute, the gadget exploded, leaving behind shredded pieces of a dollar and several parts of a cell phone.

"The dollar!" Paige exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! Mom is going to kill us!"

"Paige," Rona calmly said placing her hand on Paige's shoulder.

"Not now!" Paige exclaimed as she ran around trying to collect all the pieces of the destroyed dollar.

"Paige, it's okay," Rona said.

"No! No it's not!" Paige yelled. "I only had one job, and I couldn't even do that right."

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Rona said.

"What?" Paige asked.

"I shouldn't have blamed you right away about the dollar," Rona said. "It was wrong, and I should have had more trust in you."

"Really?" Paige asked.

"Really. Really," Rona said with a smile. "I'm here for ya, sis." Rona held up her hand. Paige smiled and gave Rona a high five.

Connie watched over the scene with a smile. "Holly, I think our job here is done," Connie said.

"We still have to clean up the debris, Connie," Holly said walking toward the mess.

"Oh, right," Connie said.


End file.
